Watch Foo Fighters Make Their Tiny Desk Concert Debut

Foo Fighters

For the first time, US rockers Foo Fighters took over NPR’s offices in Washington, appearing on the broadcaster’s beloved Tiny Desk Concert series.

• Track-By-Track Review: Foo Fighters Step Into A New Era On ‘Your Favorite Toy’

Across their five-song set, Foo Fighters showcased their new album, Your Favorite Toy, as well as a handful of all-time classics. They launched into the concert with the Your Favorite Toy highlight Spit Shine before going back in time to 1999’s There Is Nothing Left To Lose for Learn To Fly.

The band then returned to Your Favorite Toy, performing Child Actor, before time-travelling to 1997’s The Colour and the Shape, closing the set with two fan favourites: My Hero and Everlong. Throughout the performance, the band balanced acoustic and electric instrumentation.

In between Learn To Fly and Child Actor, singer Dave Grohl paused to share a personal moment with everyone in the NPR office.

He outlined the isolating yet proud experience of making music and what happens after it’s released into the world, including the feeling of having a furball in his throat. He said (per Louder Sound):

You know, one of the most challenging things in doing new music is that you spend a lot of time in the studio, and it’s months of recording, and then months of preparing, and then when you come out to perform, you realise that you haven’t had a haircut in a year. And it becomes really hard to see the fretboard. And not only seeing the fretboard, but inhaling hair.

And so recently, we did a TV show where we did a version of this next song that we’re going to play. And in the last chorus, I’m screaming wildly, and I took this deep breath in right before the song kicks in, and I had to sing one more line, and it sounded like... You know, the furball sound when your cat... yeah, got one of those moments. Let’s pray it doesn’t happen again.

You can watch Foo Fighters’ Tiny Desk Concert below.

Your Favorite Toy was released in April. The new album was recorded at home, co-produced by Foo Fighters and Oliver Roman, engineered by Roman, and mixed by Mark “Spike” Stent.

Foo Fighters unveiled the title track for the album in February. At the time, frontman Dave Grohl revealed that the song was the “key” for the new record.

The new album announcement arrived just days after the band announced their impending return to Australia. While Foo Fighters visited Tasmania for a one-off show in Launceston in January, Grohl promised that the band would come back “sooner than you think.”

Foo Fighters return to Australia and New Zealand later this year. The tour begins in November and continues into early 2026, taking over stadiums in both countries.

For the tour, 16 of the hottest acts from Australia and New Zealand will open the shows. Head here to find out everything you need to know about Foo Fighters’ Take Cover tour.